Is Fuji Reala 100 a good choice for floral macros?

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richardsfault - 22 Jul 2004 03:13 GMT

I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
scanner.

This scanner has worked well with old and new Kodacolor negatives
using the HP software's inversion. It has never "liked" Fuji as much,
and seems to really "hate" Reala!

The Reala negatives seem to run quite dark, as if they are slightly
over-exposed when shot at ASA100. Is this a characteristic of the film
or something to do with the older camera? Should I use a higher speed
like 125?

The color is strong to the point where it hides detail.

The Fuji "orange mask" is somewhat different than Kodak's, for which
the scanner is probably optimized. It causes scans to have a greenish
cast. I have had the same problem with older Fuji as well. I would
describe the Fuji mask as more of a "peach" color.

The scanner is hindered by the denser image and brighter color in
similar matter to difficulties presented by old Kodachrome 25 and 64
slides.

Again, I am aware that my scanner will have limitations, and hope to
rectify the situation soon.

Here is a link to a page of digital images very similar to what I
attempted with Reala:

http://www.richardsfault.com/images/homegrown/gallery.html

Is Reala the best choice for this type of work?
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Matt Clara - 22 Jul 2004 02:51 GMT

> I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
> Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>
> Is Reala the best choice for this type of work?

Reala may or may not be the best choice for this type of work--I've found it
quite excellent for it, though I prefer slide film for color work, I've also
shot many many rolls of Reala. I'd say, though, if your scanner won't play
nice with Reala, and you insist on using your scanner, you'd be better off
with another film.

You might try VueScan, too. Different scanner software, pretty good, though
not intuitive. It may or may not help with your situation. I think it has
a demo option, so you might as well give it a try.
http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html

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Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

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Matt Clara - 22 Jul 2004 02:56 GMT

> > I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
> > Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> a demo option, so you might as well give it a try.
> http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html

Another thing I might add is that Fuji Reala is pretty high contrast--you
may wish to try a color portrait film like Kodak Portra 160 VC (saturated
color portrait film) or NC (neutral color portrait film).

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Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

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Bandicoot - 22 Jul 2004 13:26 GMT

> > I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
> > Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> nice with Reala, and you insist on using your scanner, you'd be better off
> with another film.

I like Portra 160NC for this, though if you want really eye poppin' colour
it may not be to your taste. Low contrast and very accurate colour, and
it's very easy to scan.

I don't like Portra 160VC as much, but it is equally easy to scan if you
want the more saturated colours (not that NC looks 'unsaturated', it's just
subtler). Don't know about scanning, but Agfa Ultra 100 is quite a fun film
for really strong colour, though I don't always like its blues.

> You might try VueScan, too. Different scanner software, pretty good, though
> not intuitive. It may or may not help with your situation. I think it has
> a demo option, so you might as well give it a try.
> http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html

I second that: I find VueScan very effective, once you've got the hang of
it.

Peter

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Sabineellen - 22 Jul 2004 16:51 GMT

>> Is Reala the best choice for this type of work?

Why not just use digital?

I find it quite handy for Macro, Abstract, Animals and such topics for which
film is an overkill.

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Georges Preddivous - 22 Jul 2004 12:36 GMT

> I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
> Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>
> Visit the Sounds of the cul-de-sac at www.richardsfault.com

Salutations Richard. The ultimate platform for floral macro
photography is the Sigma SD10 with the Foveon sensor. This sensor is
the only one to record images in 3 colour layers like film. The
dynamic range/colour accuracy is better than any other digital camera
or any film emulsion. Plus, Sigma offers the best macro lenses on the
market.

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Joseph Meehan - 22 Jul 2004 13:09 GMT

Nothing but junk. brought to you by Georges Preddivous, Sales rep for
Sigma aka Junk.

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Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

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